Dallas Cowboys remain stuck in neutral with holes to fill as free agency begins

What does “all in” mean?

Apparently, the colloquial definition means something different than what his transpired with the Dallas Cowboys since owner Jerry Jones declared the team would be “all in” this off season to build a Super Bowl contender in 2024.

Free agency, which is one of the NFL’s two mechanisms to supplement teams’ rosters (in addition to the NFL Draft), officially began on Wednesday.

And the Cowboys were the only team team in the league to not add any players.

The only move they made was the re-signing of deep snapper Trent Sieg.

Sadly, the Cowboys made more news with court cases this week than they did with moves to improve the team.

And when you add in the free agent losses, including running back Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans and center Tyler Biadiasz and defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler to the Washington Commanders, the Cowboys are a team with holes to fill.

It’s also safe to say the Cowboys, who are coming off three straight 12-5 season and were NFC East champs for the second time in three seasons, have lost ground to their division rivals.

The Cowboys are seemingly still stuck in neutral. It’s not a surprise considering that cap situation.

The team has just $2.2 million in cap room and remains handcuffed by a $59.4 million cap hit for quarterback Dak Prescott. His contract needs to be addressed with an extension or an adjustment to clear cap room.

The Cowboys have traditionally started slow in free agency, preferring to let the big money to go off the board before adding players at bottom of the market prices.

The only difference is that it was Jones who declared to the team to be “all in” heading into season that is a make-or-break campaign for coach Mike McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract.

And more frustrating for the Cowboys is that the concerns the team promised they would address have been hamstrung by their inactivity.

Topping that list is running back following the loss of Pollard.

The Cowboys went into the offsseason vowing a need to run the ball better in 2024.

They had interest in bringing back Pollard, but the market proved to be too much.

Pollard and all the other prospective running back free agents, including Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, got way more than the Cowboys were willing to spend.

That they were in on Zack Moss, who went from Colts to the Bengals, for $4 million a year and declined to pay that price tells you all you need to know about the Cowboys cap situation.

The Cowboys will sign someone at some point. A.J. Dillon and J.K. Dobbins are among the available options.

They will likely address the position in the 2024 NFL Draft, where they have seven picks.

Running back is one of six positions the team is search of a new starter. The others are center, left tackle, linebacker, slot cornerback and safety.

And that doesn’t include others that need depth additions like defensive end, defensive tackle and receiver.

So far all in has been all nothing.